Red Stripe Premier League finalists Portmore United will play against CD Plaza Amador of Panama in a home and away round slated to commence in early August, in the inaugural season of the 2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League.
The fixtures were realised at the Hilton Miami Airport hotel in Miami, Florida, during the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) draw last Wednesday, which arranged the 16 qualified clubs into eight parings for the first round of the competition.
The draw was conducted by CONCACAF General Secretary Phillipe Moggio, with the assistance of former players Alvaro Saborio of Costa Rica, and Omar Daley of Jamaica.
It will be the first time that Portmore have qualified for a CONCACAF competition since they participated in the 2006 Champions Cup where they made the last eight, the best finish by a Jamaican club.
Arnett Gardens remain the only other local club to make the last 16, doing so in 2003. Ironically, both teams will meet tomorrow night in the Red Stripe Premier League final inside the National Stadium.
The Scotiabank CONCACAF League, the new club competition of CONCACAF, features 16 top club teams from the Central American and Caribbean regions.
The winner of the 2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League will then join the 2018 edition of the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, which kicks off in February of next year.
That will see 15 more of the best clubs from the entire CONCACAF region, including the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, United States and Canada.
The champion of that competition will represent the region in the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup.
“This draw is neither favorable nor unfavorable to me; once you are in this competition, its champions against champions. You have to have some level of pedigree to get to this level. In fact, I spoke to a few of the members of the management team of CD Plaza and I learnt that they have a very formidable programme and a well-organised club with programmes from Under-13 to semi-pro. And they also have a reserve first team separate and apart from their professional outfit who will be competing against us, of which four of their players are part of the national line-up,” Portmore United's General Manager Clive Marshall told the Jamaica Observer.
“That in fact speaks to some level of pedigree. But what we do in this situation is to relish the opportunity, as the objective we set out in our club is to help our youngsters to gain some experience at the professional and international level. To get them developed we have to compete against professional outfits. We just want to continue to have a perfect 2017, so we are looking forward for the challenge,” he added.
Fixtures
The Round of 16 pairing for the 2017 Scotiabank CONCACAF League are as follows:
Matchup #1: San Juan Jabloteh (TRI) v Santos de Guapiles FC (CRC)
Matchup #2: CD Honduras Progreso (HON) v Chorrillo FC (PAN)
Matchup #3: CD Arabe Unido (PAN) v Central FC (TRI)
Matchup #4: Real Esteli FC (NIC) v CD Aguila (SLV)
Matchup #5: LD Alajuelense (CRC) v CD Olimpia (HON)
Matchup #6: Alianza FC (SLV) v Platense FC (HON)
Matchup #7: CD Plaza Amador (PAN) v Portmore United FC (JAM)
Matchup #8: Belmopan Bandits (BLZ) v CD Walter Ferretti (NIC)
Former champions Harbour View will look to rebound from two consecutive losses today when they host Arnett Gardens in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) third round, preliminary game at Harbour View Stadium starting at 3 p.m.
The Stars of the East are coming off 3-2 and 2-0 defeats to Boys' Town and Reno FC, respectively, in five days. Now, they will host the four-time national champions in a critical game for both teams. .
Harbour View have brought back former club stars such as Sean Fraser, Luton Shelton, McKauley Tulloch and Akeem Priestly to bolster their attack, but the team remains inconsistent. They are currently in ninth position on 27 points, just four above the relegation zone, and will hunt full points against the Junglists.
The Ludlow Bernard-coached team needs to get tighter in defence as they have conceded 32 goals in 25 matches.
Arnett are coming off a 1-0 win against Humble Lion and are now in sixth position on 38 points, just three adrift of fifthplace Portmore United, who are on 41 points. With the top six teams advancing to the championship play-offs at the completion of the third and final preliminary round, the battle for places is becoming hotter and hotter.
Arnett will look to super-sub Kemal Malcolm, Newton Sterling, captain Oneil 'Bigga' Thompson, Dicoy Williams and Ranike Anderson to get past the hosts.
Today's Games
- 3 p.m.: Harbour View vs Arnett Gardens at Harbour View Stadium
- 3:30 p.m.: Jamalco vs Maverley-Hughenden at Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon
- 6 p.m.: Waterhouse vs Humble Lion at Drewsland Stadium
Tomorrow's Games
- 5:30 p.m.: UWI FC vs Tivoli Gardens at National Stadium
- 8 p.m.: Portmore United vs Boys' Town at National Stadium
CATHERINE HALL, St James — Vassell Reynolds is hoping to get preparations off to an early start as he takes over the daCosta Cup programme at 10-time champions Rusea’s High, after a successful stint in the Corporate Area Manning Cup with Wolmer’s Boys’ School.
Reynolds, who led the Heroes’ Circle-based school to the lucrative Flow Super Cup title and the Manning Cup final this past schoolboy football season, has replaced Aaron Lawrence at Rusea’s after the latter’s three-year run that fell below the expectations of many.
Under the stewardship of Lawrence, who won several titles as a goalkeeper at Rusea’s in the 1990s before going on to the national senior team, and was part of the Reggae Boyz team that qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France, Rusea’s had a combined record of 19 wins, seven draws and eight losses.
The highlight came in 2016 when they qualified for the FLOW Super Cup Knockout for the first time, beating Haile Selassie High in the first round before losing to Cornwall College on penalty kicks in the quarter-finals, in one of the most highly anticipated games of the entire schoolboy football season.
After a slow start in the 2014 season when they were second in Zone B behind Frome Technical, then finished last in their inter-zone group, they made it as far as the quarter-finals the next two seasons.
“I think I would have played my part in the development and the continued development of the Wolmer’s programme,” Reynolds told the Jamaica Observer last week while attending the opening day of the Caribbean Football Union Caribbean Club Championship Group C games at the Montego Bay Sports Complex.
“The programme has reached the stage where it can only do well from here on. I think it is the right time (for the move) as I would have achieved some amount of success over the past two seasons, and this offer came at the time and I think I am ready to take it up,” he said.
The rich history and tradition at the Hanover school, he said, was a big factor in his decision.
“The Rusea’s programme carries a lot of tradition and has a sound structure... I think it’s one of the better programmes in terms of organisation and support, and so the time is right,” Reynolds said.
The daCosta Cup may have its unique challenges, but that won’t bother Reynolds.
“I am not a stranger to D’Cup,” he pointed out when asked how long it would take him to get acclimatised to the competition. “Before Wolmer’s, I was at Garvey Maceo, Vere Technical and Edwin Allen High, and even while I coached in the Manning Cup I watched a lot of daCosta Cup games, so I know what’s going on and kept close contact,” he noted.
However, Reynolds admitted that it will be “different, especially in the west”.
“I have to get going as early as possible and that’s why I am starting the preseason as early as possible, getting people from this side of the country involved. I am talking to past student Dwayne Ambusley, who plays for Montego Bay United now, and hope to get started as soon as possible,” said the new Rusea’s boss.
“I am still putting my technical staff together, having regular meetings with players, and I will have a trial session soon,” Reynolds added.
Having spent several days at the school last week, Reynolds has an idea of the talent that he has inherited.
“I already know who will be back, and there are young players in the system that I need to look at as early as possible, and this I hope to do in the next few weeks and within the next month or so,” he explained.
So far, he said things have gone smoothly as “the reception from the Rusea’s community has been very good”.
“I feel welcomed. I was impressed with the way I was welcomed by everyone, from the staff and students alike,” Reynolds ended.
CATHERINE HALL, St James — Montego Bay United (MBU) will go into this evening’s final game of their Caribbean Football Union Club Championships with slim hopes of advancing to the final.
The Jamaica champions are in third place in the four-team group and are aware that even a handsome win against Club Barcelona Atletico in the second game of the double-header tonight may not be good enough.
MBU, on three points, trounced Cayman Island’s Elite Sports Club 5-0 on Friday, on the back of a double from Owayne Gordon, who snapped a goalscoring dry spell in the process.
Only the winners of the group will advance and Grenades FC, who had beaten MBU 3-2 on Wednesday, are tied with Club Barcelona Atletico on four points each after they drew 2-2 on Friday.
A win for joint leaders Grenades FC of Antigua against Elite SC, who are yet to earn a point in their two games, would, however, make the result of the second game unimportant.
If Elite SC do the near impossible and hold Grenades to a point or less, the second game would come down to a winner-takes-all affair.
MBU’s technical advisor Rod Underwood has simplified his approach as his team seeks to overturn their predicament.
“I will go with simple — control what we can control and that’s what we do,” he said.
“I have been here a short time I see signs of what I am asking them to do; it’s not easy for them, but we are moving forward.”
Dino Williams, who has missed double-digit scoring chances in the two games, gave MBU the lead in the 14th minute on Friday after easing past the slow Elite defence and slotting home past goalkeeper Danner Taylor.
The ease with which the MBU team took over the game early promised a flood of goals in the first half, but it never came as they created but wasted chance after chance.
The second goal came on the hour mark, thanks to a comical mix-up between Taylor and his defence, allowing a ball to run to the wide open Ronaldo Rodney who obliged by tapping into an empty goal.
Gordon then took over the game and scored two goals in a three-minute span, beating Taylor with a sublime free kick in the 74th minute, then a powerful header from a cross from Johann Weatherly, who replaced Donovan Carey in the 53rd minute.
Weatherly, as he did in the first game, came off the bench to add speed and width to the MBU team and also got a goal three minutes into time added.
The battle between struggling promoted teams Jamalco FC and Maverley-Hughenden FC is expected to be an intriguing one as the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) continues today.
The game, scheduled to start at 3:00 pm, is set for Jamalco’s base at Wembley Centre of Excellence in Clarendon.
Both teams have endured a torrid time in the nation’s top flight thus far.
Jamalco, first-timers in the RSPL, are in danger of relegation after losing their last four games. They are 11th in the 12-team standing with 23 points from 25 games.
Maverley-Hughenden, who went numerous years outside of the Premier League football until promotion ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, are only one point better off than today’s opponents.
Maverley-Hughenden occupy 10th place, but while they have lost only once in their last five games, a string of three successive draws has left them just beyond the relegation zone.
The two teams with the fewest number of points at the end of 33 preliminary games will be demoted.
Conversely, the top two teams will automatically advance to the league semi-finals. The next four teams finishing between third and sixth will battle for the remaining two places.
In the 6:00 pm game at Drewsland Stadium, the resurgent former champions Waterhouse FC host last season’s semi-finalists Humble Lion FC. Waterhouse, who have won two of their last four games, are eighth with 27 points, while Humble Lion, who lost last time out, are third with 45 points.
At 7:00 pm, ninth-placed Harbour View FC (27 points) welcome sixth-placed Arnett Gardens FC (38 points) to Harbour View Stadium.
A double-header is on the cards tomorrow for the National Stadium.
Leaders The University of the West Indies (UWI) FC (47 points) are set to battle second-placed Tivoli Gardens FC (45 points) in the opener at 5:30 pm.
At 8:00 pm, fifth-placed Portmore United (41 points) tackle cellar team Boys’ Town FC (19 points).
Seventh-placed Reno FC (31 points) and RSPL champions Montego Bay United, who are fourth with 43 points, will be inactive this match day because of the latter’s participation in the Caribbean Football Union Club Championship.
Montego Bay are currently hosting Group C at Montego Bay Sports Complex in Catherine Hall.
Today’s games
3:00 pm — Jamalco vs Maverley-Hughenden @ Wembley Centre
Andre Virtue, the director of Ballaz International who brought the Brazilian Legends to the island, expressed his delight that he was able to satisfy fans who witnessed the Jamaican All Stars delivered a 2-1 victory over their Brazilian counterparts.
Goals by Gregory Simmonds and Ricardo Gardner, in the 35th and 79th minutes, respectively, gave the Jamaican legends a historic win over their more illustrious Brazilians in the friendly ‘Share the Love Tour’ football match at the National Stadium on Friday tonight.
For the Brazilians, Ray Ferreira Martha Defreitas had pulled them level in the 58th minute.
“We feel good pulling it off. We feel good bringing the players here together. We spoke about it and for them to show up and do what they did…” a beaming Virtue told the Jamaica Observer.
“They play football, they love the game, and so we didn’t disappoint in that area. We promised the crowd the names, and on both teams they came, they delivered. So we feel great about that,” he noted.
Approximately 6,000 fans turned out to witness the football spectacle involving players that won the World Cup for Brazil in 1994 and 2002 and members of Jamaica’s historic 1998 World Cup team.
Dunga, who played in Jamaica in 1982 as a youngster before captaining Brazil to victory at the 1994 World Cup in the United States of America (USA), was back, but this time he was on the touchline as coach.
Former Barcelona star and 1999 World Player of the Year Rivaldo, who was instrumental in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup triumph, was in action and showed that he was still capable of reproducing a bit of the old magic.
Edmilson, also a former Barcelona player and a member of the 2002 winning team in South Korea and Japan; Paulo Sergio and Viola, members of the 1994 team; as well as Ze Carlos, were also on show.
The Jamaican All-Star team featured a mixture of the 1998 World Cup squad and some current Under-20 players, and the fans were treated to a cameo by none other that Walter “Blacka Pearl” Boyd, who demonstrated glimpses of his skills that made him a favourite in his heyday.
Theodore Whitmore, the only Jamaican to score at a senior FIFA World Cup, and now the current national head coach, also displayed his array of trickery, the most notable being an “air pie” that shaved the head of his Brazilian opponent.
Other members of the Jamaica legends team were Gregory Messam, Fabian Davis, Andy “Bomber” Williams, Donald Stewart, Cornel Chin-Sue, and Kevin Wilson.
“We always would have loved to have more people here in the stadium, but we had our own challenges in trying to raise funds to do it. But at the end of the day, those who came got their money’s worth in the show and the performance from Rivaldo and Walter Boyd and the lot. I think it was great and I am happy we were able to pull it off,” he reiterated.
Virtue, who established himself a schoolboy star for Jamaica College, said if the opportunity arises again to stage such a match, he would be happy to do it.
“There is never a no. Football does great things, so if we have the opportunity again to do it we will definitely put our best foot forward and give the Jamaican people something that they can enjoy as they did today (Friday),” said Virtue.
The opening 25 minutes of the game were not the best as fans were expecting the typical flair of the Brazilians to be on display. Instead it was a cagey affair. But things got interesting when young Zhelano Barnes of the Jamaica team showed good pace and skill and worked his way into the box and was fouled.
Simmonds converted from the penalty spot.
But the Brazilians regrouped after the interval and Defreitas tapped home after Rivaldo’s corner kick was flicked on at the near post.
Immediately a loud cheer went up, but it wasn’t for the Brazilian goal. It was for Boyd, who was caught warming up in preparation to make his entry. He replaced Fabian Taylor in the 58th minute.
But it took Boyd nearly 20 minutes to excite the crowd, though he duly obliged when, on one occasion, he mesmerised two defenders with his fancy footwork before he was fouled. From the resulting quick free kick Gardner fired home, catching the Brazilians off-guard, who protested by surrounding referee Karl Tyrell.
The tour is a spin-off of an existing Tour of Love that has successfully travelled to countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Burundi, Madagascar, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Chile, Singapore, Japan, Fiji, Indonesia and Guatemala. The Brazilians will next journey to Lebanon.
Reno FC will try to pull level with Arnett Gardens FC when the teams meet in today’s Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) match at St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) football field.
The contest is scheduled to start at 3:30 pm.
The Westmoreland-based Reno, who are using the venue in Santa Cruz while their home field at Frome is rehabilitated, are seventh in the 12-team RSPL table with 28 points from 22 matches.
Reno, most recently the national champions in the 1994-95 campaign, showed how dangerous they can be on the STETHS strip by spanking reigning champions Montego Bay United 2-0 last week. Their last five games have included three wins, one loss and a draw.
Arnett Gardens, the 2014-15 winners, are sixth with 31 points. They gave an indication of their attacking potency with a 4-1 thumping of Jamalco FC last time out. Arnett have recorded three victories and two defeats in their previous five.
Both teams are vying for the crucial sixth spot which offers a shot at a semi-finals berth.
The top two teams at the end of 33 preliminary games will automatically advance to the league semi-finals. The next four teams finishing between third and sixth will battle for the remaining two places.
The 11th- and 12th-placed teams will be relegated.
Also at 3:30 pm, 10th-placed Waterhouse FC entertain second-placed University of the West Indies (UWI) FC at Drewsland Stadium. Waterhouse have 22 points, while UWI, who only trail leaders Tivoli Gardens FC because of an inferior goal difference, have 42 points.
At Constant Spring field, 11th-placed Maverley-Hughenden FC (21 points) welcome third-placed Montego Bay United (42 points) in a 3:30 pm clash.
At 3:00 pm, ninth-placed Jamalco FC (23 points) take on fifth-placed Portmore United (37 points) at Wembley Centre of Excellence.
RSPL fans will be treated to a scheduled double-header tomorrow at the National Stadium in the first Monday evening action of the season.
Organisers have pitted last-placed Boys’ Town FC (16 points) against fourth-placed Humble Lion FC (39 points) at 5:30 pm.
At 8:00 pm, frontrunners Tivoli Gardens FC (42 points) battle eighth-placed Harbour View FC (24 points).
Today’s games
3:00 pm – Jamalco vs Portmore @ Wembley Centre
3:30 pm – Maverley-Hughenden vs Montego Bay @ Constant Spring
3:30 pm – Reno vs Arnett Gardens @ STETHS
3:30 pm – Waterhouse vs UWI @ Drewsland Stadium
Tomorrow’s games
5:30 pm – Boys’ Town vs Humble Lion @ National Stadium
8:00 pm – Tivoli Gardens vs Harbour View @ National Stadium
Boys’ Town FC sunk deeper in relegation mire after a 1-2 loss to semi-final chasing Humble Lion FC in the first game of the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) double-header at National Stadium on Monday.
Perry Bartley, standing in for absent Boys’ Town Head Coach Andrew Price, saw his team take the lead through Rafiek Thomas in the eighth minute.
However, Humble Lion’s Jermaine Christian hit the equaliser in the 24th minute and Ricardo Dennis struck the winning goal for the Clarendon-based team in the 36th minute.
Boys’ Town are last in the 12-team standing, with 16 points from 23 games. Humble Lion, hunting a place in the RSPL semi-finals, are fourth with 42 points.
The top two teams at the end of 33 preliminary games will automatically advance to the league semi-finals. The next four teams finishing between third and sixth will battle for the remaining two places.
The two teams with fewest points will be relegated.
“The objective was to come out and dominate the first half and hold them for the second half. We made mistakes and we conceded goals,” experienced Boys’ Town’s wing back Xavian Virgo told journalists after the game.
Despite the victory, Humble Lion Coach Donovan Duckie walked away with some degree of displeasure.
“I’m very disappointed. You need to be more mature as a team if you have title intentions. We just did not do well tonight, but we give thanks for the result,” he said.
Former champions Boys’ Town, looking set to suffer the ignominy of demotion from the nation’s top-flight football competition, got a shot in the arm in the early exchanges.
Thomas — returning to the club after an unsuccessful stint with Humble Lion — got the opening goal.
But Christian settled Humble Lion with a low strike from inside the 18-yard box in the 24th minute.
Humble Lion, who opened cracks in the Boys’ Town defence in the first half, took the lead when Ricardo Dennis broke through on goal in the 36th minute to angle home a low effort.
Humble Lion had several chances to widen the advantage in the second period but failed to convert.
Teams:
Boys’ Town
— Shavon Wilson (Rushane Campbell 46th), Pierre McPherson, Ricardo Dennis, Anthony Dawes, Xavian Virgo, Garfield Gillespie, Chavaney Willis, Jamiel Hardware, Andrew Allen (Michael Campbell 65th), Shamar Nicholson, Rafiek Thomas (Orlando Brown 81st)
For the second game running, Tivoli Gardens FC assistant coach Damion Gordon was left lamenting his team’s finishing after a defeat in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL).
On Monday, they surrendered an early lead to fall 1-2 to struggling Harbour View FC in the feature game of a double-header at National Stadium.
In-form veteran attacker Jermaine Johnson gave Tivoli the lead in the sixth minute, but injury-troubled striker Luton Shelton (41st) and Kemar Bennett (62nd) gave Harbour View a surprise win.
Only last week, Tivoli Gardens — playing at home — went ahead, but were ambushed 2-3 by University of the West Indies (UWI).
Tivoli, who started the match day with the lead, fall to third with 42 points after two-straight defeats. They are a point behind leaders UWI.
Harbour View, who have won two on the trot in an otherwise dismal campaign so far, are eighth with 27 points.
“Execution [was missing]; we got a lot of chances today, even when Harbour View were 2-1 up, we got chances to score,” Gordon told the media during a post-match interview.
“The impact [on the RSPL points table] is not severe; it’s just about how we regroup and come again. It is football and winning and losing is a part of the game. You don’t want to be on the losing side, but we have to correct our errors and come again,” the Tivoli assistant coach added.
Shelton, who was previously playing club football in Russia and has been grounded by knee problems for the better part of two years, was pleased with Harbour View’s fightback.
“It was a very hard game and Tivoli are a competitive team. They are very aggressive and not an easy team to break down. We did well to take our chances and things look good going forward,” the former Reggae Boyz striker told the Jamaica Observer.
But it was all Tivoli in the first half in cool, evening conditions on Monday.
And the dominance told from as early the sixth minute when Junior McGregor fed a pass to Johnson, who held off a challenge before lodging into the net.
In the midst of a series of opportunities that fell to Tivoli, Marvin Stewart could have made it two-nil, but he cut inside a defender and shot weakly at goalkeeper Christian Kluvi from close range.
But Shelton, who appeared to be ambling about harmlessly for the opening 40 minutes, rose high to direct a header beyond the reach of goalkeeper Davin Watkins to shock Tivoli Gardens.
Shelton, after sustaining a knock, did not return for the second half, but his teammates slowly wrested the ascendancy.
It came as no surprise when Bennett bravely threw himself to turn in Hugh Evans’ swerving cross from the left side to give them the lead.
The hard-running Johnson crafted a couple of chances for Tivoli, but they failed to materialise into a goal.
Teams:
Tivoli Gardens — Davin Watkins, Kevin Graham, Barrington Pryce, Kemar Seivwright, Nicholas Smith, Marvin Stewart, Tevin Shaw, Miguel Ricketts (Ajuma Johnson 68th), Junior McGregor (Howard Morris 69th), Jermaine Johnson, Peter Keyes (Donavon Dawkins 72nd).
Subs not used: Nicholas Clarke, Rushane Facey, Jermaine Parris, Arthur Walters
Champions Montego Bay United, despite playing with 10 men for over 20 minutes, held Maverley-Hughenden to a 0-0 draw in the Red Stripe Premier League (RSPL) match at Constant Spring Field yesterday.
Allan Ottey was red-carded by Referee Weston Costly in the 70th minute for a nasty foul, but Montego Bay held their nerve and held on for a very good away point under the circumstances.
Montego Bay United, who halted a two-game losing skid, inched to 43 points. They are provisionally in second spot, while Maverley-Hughenden stay in the relegation zone in 11th spot on 22 points.
Playing with a man extra, Maverley failed to capitalise, and in fact came close to surrendering the lead after Owayne Gordon’s header crashed onto the crossbar in the 73rd minute. Earlier, Gordon watched as his curling free kick hit the upright in the 55th minute.
But Maverley would have the final chances of the game as Jamoy Sibbles’ long-range effort had the out-of-position goalkeeper Jacomeno Barrett scrambling, but it sailed just over the crossbar in the 89th minute.
Then substitute Narado Brown got a couple of half chances. The main one came when he collected the ball inside the box and turned onto his left foot, and was closed down in time added on. There was a sigh of relief from the Montego Bay fans when he opted not to shoot first time, and they thanked him.
But Brown’s decision was not taken well by his teammates, some of whom expressed their verbal disgust.
Maverley’s Coach Anthony Patrick saw his team fail to grab valuable points at home.
“Definitely, I think we played a little bit tight... but in the last few minutes we started to get at them and started to play,” noted Patrick.
“It was very good team performance, a gutsy performance from the entire team. We switched the system and played a 4-3-3 and I think it worked wonders for us, and we are very happy for the one point,” said Patrick.
Montego Bay’s Coach Dillon Thelwell praised his team for their strong display, despite playing with 10 men.
“I think today we showed character, fighting spirit and, as you noticed, we dominated the game right throughout — even with 10 players — creating chance after chance. But it was just one of those days when you fail to score and have to settle for a point,” said Thelwell.
Portmore United climb into fourth spot on 40 points after clipping Jamalco FC 2-1 at Wembley Centre of Excellence. Ricardo Morris and Jermie Lynch scored for Portmore United in the 34th and 54th minutes, respectively. Captain Shauntel Mundle — for the second-consecutive week — replied for Jamalco in the 71st minute in a losing cause. They remain in 10th spot on 23 points.
Former champions Arnett Gardens left it very late at St Elizabeth Technical field to edge Reno 1-0, courtesy of a strike in the first minute of stoppage time from Kemal Malcolm.
It was a crucial win for Arnett Gardens as they consolidated the sixth and final play-off spot with 34 points. They move six points clear of Reno, who are seventh on 28 points.
At Drewsland, home team Waterhouse FC and the University of the West Indies (UWI) battled to a 0-0 stalemate. Despite dropping two points, UWI provisionally move to the top of the league on 43 points by virtue of scoring a greater number of goals than Montego Bay.
Today, Tivoli Gardens (42 points) could return to the top when they tackle a Harbour View outfit in eighth spot on 24 points in the 8:00 pm feature game of a double-header inside the National Stadium tonight. In the 5:30 pm curtain-raiser, bottom-placed Boys’ Town (16 points) play fifth-placed Humble Lion (39 points).
Teams:
Maverley-Hughenden — Jovel Plunkett, Kasai Hinds, Robert Williams, Jahmari Ranger, Nackwayne Parchment, Troy Moulton, Raymond Williamson, Denario Thomas (Narada Brown 83rd), Jamoly Powell (Nicholas Scott 61st), Andrew Whyte, Jamoy Sibbles.
Subs not used: George Brown, Ricardo Thomas, Andrew Peddlar, Wayne Williams, Odane Samuels.
Booked: Raymond Williamson 32nd.
Montego Bay — Jacomena Barrett, Fabian McCarthy, Ladale Richie, Donovan Carey, Orlando McBayne, Dwayne Ambusley, Keneil Kirlew, Ronaldo Rodney (Johann Weatherly 80th), Allan Ottey, Owayne Gordon, Dino Williams.
Subs not used: David Swaby, John Barrett, Michael Heaven, Paigel Brwon, Ramone Sibley.
